


tightening holds

by joshriku



Category: Kingdom Hearts, Subarashiki Kono Sekai | The World Ends With You
Genre: Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Sharing a Bed, Touch-Starved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-10-18 21:13:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20645759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joshriku/pseuds/joshriku
Summary: Riku likes to hold Joshua. Joshua seems to like to hold him back, too. It becomes athing.





	tightening holds

**Author's Note:**

> not to be like that but joshriku in love... if anything looks ugly its bc i edited it on the phone SORRYYY

**i.**

“Is this okay?” Riku asks.

He didn’t mean to put his legs on Joshua’s lap – it was more of an  _ old habits die hard  _ thing. This is something he brings from home; putting his legs up on Sora and Kairi is second-nature to him at this point. Yet, not thinking twice or straight, he put them on Joshua while watching a movie, and…

Joshua had gone very still. Muscles tensed up and a breath being held for a second too long - Riku is always aware of when someone is uncomfortable. He presses again, “I’ll take them off. Sorry, I –”

Joshua’s hand holds his legs quickly, and with the same speed he grabbed them he lets them go. This is the first time Joshua looks a bit disconcerted and Riku doesn’t know how to feel about it.

“They’re fine,” when he speaks again, Joshua seems to have regained his composure, even if he is actively avoiding touching him with his hands. “How could I ever be  _ not  _ okay with pretty boys resting their legs on me? Don’t be silly, Riku.”

Riku rolls his eyes, amused. There’s the normal Joshua. He’s a bit used to the flirting now, really, if only because Shiki had told him that Joshua always does that with everyone that breathes near him.

“So I think,” Riku starts, “I’m starting to think this guy is very different from the Cloud I know.”

“What gave it away? The absolute different plot here compared to your world?”

“ _ That _ , and the fact he’s not with Leon,” Riku frowns at the screen. “Where is he? I’ve been waiting for him to show up.”

His leg is squeezed briefly. It’s so quick it might as well have been a phantom touch, but Joshua’s hand goes back to the armrest – the only evidence that he  _ did  _ touch him.

“Leon?” Joshua frowns. “You mean Squall?”

“Oh. Yeah, we don’t call him that. He’s Leon. Where is he?”

“In like, another game. They don’t even know each other.”

“That’s  _ awful _ .”

There it is again. Slight touch. Did Joshua want to hold him or try to get him off his lap? Joshua turns to look at him, almost as if checking Riku didn’t notice, and finds Riku already staring back at him.

“I feel like I should address this,” Joshua says, hands finally settling on his legs.

“Yeah. Do you want me to get them off or…? If something bothers you, you can –“

“It doesn’t bother me.” Joshua takes a pause. “I don’t want to… overstep boundaries. Are you comfortable with me holding you?”

“Well… yeah. That’s why I put them there.”

Joshua nods. “Okay,” Before Riku can continue, he says, “so are the Cloud and Squall from your world a  _ thing _ , or…?”

**ii.**

“Stop being ridiculous,” Riku tells Joshua. “You’re not sleeping on the floor.”

“You know I’ve slept in worse things, right,” Joshua deadpans. “This cliché of only one bed isn’t happening. I can sleep by myself, promise.”

Riku’s lips go on a thin line. Really, had Joshua wanted to truly sleep on the floor, he wouldn’t have dropped that many hints about loving Riku’s bed.

Sighing, he leans over and grabs Joshua’s hand, successfully dragging him to the bed and sitting him down next to him. His hand doesn’t really want to leave Joshua’s, and to Riku’s surprise, he is staring at it with an unreadable expression.

“My mattress is comfortable,” Riku offers one more time, slightly squeezing Joshua’s hand.

“Okay,” Joshua gives in.

That’s.

That’s weird.

Joshua doesn’t really give in so easily. That’s  _ kind  _ of his thing. It sure raises Riku’s eyebrows, but he’s really sleepy, so he lets Joshua climb in under the blanket.

Neither of them say anything.

Riku really should’ve thought before inviting the guy he likes to his bed without being able to full-on spoon him – it’s like some type of professional torture. It would cost him absolutely nothing to think twice about his ideas,  _ or  _ think straight, and yet here he is.

Joshua’s presence is intoxicating in the best way. Riku knows that being in denial never did him any good, so he’s long accepted this  _ thing  _ growing for Joshua – this ball of happiness, excitement, and yearning inside of him every time they’re together. Only now it feels like Riku flipped a switch and intensified it.

It  _ is  _ a small bed. Riku could move wrongly and hold Joshua’s hand.

He could.

Too slow to be casual and too fast to be calculated, Riku takes Joshua’s hand on his again.

Joshua stays very still, once more. “Riku?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re… holding my hand?”

“I am. Is that okay? You know, you can just say—”

“It’s okay,” and his fingers intertwine with Riku’s, fitting perfectly together. “You really need to stop worrying about that.”

“I’m sorry. I just want you to feel comfortable.”

“Don’t apologize, dear,” and in other occasions, Riku would brush off the little nickname as something passive-aggressive. But it’s so quiet in his room and with the situation they’re in, Riku allows his heartbeat to accelerate. “You’re… special.”

“Special?”

“Yes. I don’t think anything you do could make me uncomfortable, especially when you treat me like  _ this _ always.”

“Oh. Okay.”

It feels like Joshua has so much more to say, so Riku lets him take the silence as he pleases.

“Riku…” he starts. “You deserve a whole lot better.”

Riku frowns. “I like you plenty as you are.”

“And I’m flattered,” Joshua replies, “but you really don’t – there’s so much about me you don’t know. That you shouldn’t know. If you find out – if you  _ ever  _ find out – you wouldn’t be here like this.  _ I’d  _ be the one asking if you’re uncomfortable.”

Riku closes his eyes and tries to imagine that – a reality where he’s so unsettled by Joshua to take him to that point. It makes zero sense. It’s not like he’s oblivious to everything. Years have hardened him, made him observant. He picks up on every little thing about Joshua – he has a  _ vague,  _ slight idea of what might be eating Joshua inside.

“You know, there was a time I was fifteen, and almost killed my best friend.” It’s so bitter to admit it out loud, but it feels like the biggest weight off his shoulder is lifted. This is a safe place – Joshua’s hand tightens slightly, and it’s encouraging. “I couldn’t really forgive myself. I still can’t. It’s – a work in progress, I like to call it that. I did  _ many  _ things wrong. I  _ hurt  _ my best friends, I  _ destroyed  _ my own home. But I’m still here, you know? And my friends have chosen to forgive me, and love me. I think I owe it to them to do that to myself, too. I don’t know much about what happened to you or your friends, but I do recognize the look in your eyes when you’re with them – it’s the same I’ve been wearing for a long time. What I’m getting at is that if you’re not disgusted by that, I wouldn’t be disgusted by you, either.”

Joshua chuckles a bit, his fingers slowly playing across Riku’s hand. He’s been looking at the roof the entire time, absorbing every word, and finally settles for saying: “Pretty hardcore origin story.”

“Yeah,” Riku laughs a little. “You could say that.”

“We… can leave the origin stories up until here,” Joshua continues, shifting around until he’s facing Riku. “Might tell you mine sometime.”

Riku smiles at him. “Sounds good with me.”

“Do you…” Joshua holds his hand again, “can we…”

Riku tilts his head. “Can we…?”

“Please don’t make me say it.”

“I’m not really following.”

Joshua sighs. “Could you use those  _ amazing  _ biceps of yours to pull me in a hug?”

Riku flushes immediately. “O-oh. Yeah. I. Yeah, of course, c’mere.”

Joshua is a little stiff when Riku pulls him against his chest, but as soon as his arms circle him, he exhales loudly – his body melts completely against Riku’s. His own hands lazily hold Riku’s waist, like he doesn’t want to cling too much.

This is intoxicating, in the best way possible. Joshua laughs a little against his chest. “Your heart beats really fast.”

“I- well, you know-“ he stumbles with his words, trying to make sense of everything – but Joshua smells so  _ good  _ he just wants to kiss him – “You’re pretty.”

“Someone’s stealing lines from my book,” Joshua laughs, sounding a lot more like himself. “Sleep well, Riku.”

“You too, Josh.”

**iii.**

Staring at Shibuya down from the highest building must be the most romantic thing Riku’s ever experienced, and he’s not sure if it’s supposed to be romantic just yet.

Not much talking has happened, more like Riku asking about buildings and places and Joshua answering each one of his questions with patience. Until…

“Riku,” Joshua says, tone different from all the other times they were talking. “I’m not dense at all. Do you  _ actually  _ like me? If you look at me, and you’re with me, do you  _ like  _ me?”

It’s like an invitation to stare at him. He doesn’t mean to start smiling, but it’s his natural reaction for his lips to tilt up – specially when his eyes reach Joshua’s face. He’s beautiful. It’s like he’s always meant to look like an angel.

Riku nods. “A lot.”

“You…” Joshua looks  _ shocked _ , even though Riku hasn’t been denying how much he likes him every time Joshua asks. “You’re a bit of an idiot. It’s okay, because I like you too.”

“Ah –  _ what _ ?”

Walking faster than Riku can think, Joshua closes their distance, leans up, and kisses him. It lasts only a second, and Riku is  _ very  _ wide-eyed.

“Oh,” Riku touches his lips like that didn’t happen. “Joshua?”

“Yes?”

“Come here again,” and not waiting, he puts his arms around Joshua’s waist and kisses him one more time.

It  _ is  _ as good as he imagined.

He likes it when they break apart, how Joshua doesn’t want to let go of him, deciding to hold him as they stare at Shibuya.

It’s okay.

Riku doesn’t want to let go, either.

**iv.**

“If you don’t stop being gross in front of me I’m kicking you out,” Neku says.

“It’s your fault, technically. I told you Riku was coming and you didn’t bring more chairs. No one else to blame but you,” Joshua replies, comfortable on Riku’s lap as his new seat.

Riku has his arms wrapped around him, chin softly prepped on his shoulder, staring at the rest of his friends. “We had no choice.”

“You guys are the absolute clingiest couple I know,” Neku continues, but it’s hard for him to keep being serious. His lips are twitching. “I’m happy for you two.”

“I’m happy, too,” Joshua says.

Riku presses a kiss on his shoulder.

He’s the happiest among them.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> theyre gay!! and touch starved!!!! just like i am starved of joshriku. follow me @joshriku on twitter and @joshrikus on tumblr i cry often


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